New York Mets at Milwaukee Brewers

Thornton (0-1, 1.93 ERA) took the ball trying to build on the best start of his rookie season — 7 shutout innings against the Red Sox on July 12. Sproat (3-4, 5.09 ERA) got the ball for Milwaukee in a fitting spot: his first look at the organization that drafted him before shipping him out in the Freddy Peralta trade, and he was coming off a 3-inning clunker against the Pirates. First pitch went off at 6:40 PM CT with the Brewers riding a 4-game winning streak and the Mets just trying to avoid getting swept out of town.

Zac Thornton

(2-2)·2.88 ERA

Jul 12 vs Red Sox

ND

7.0IP

0ER

5K

2BB

82P

07/21 Lineup

Brandon Sproat

(3-7)·5.27 ERA

Jul 11 @ Pirates

ND

3.0IP

2ER

3K

2BB

83P

07/21 Lineup

Milwaukee's rotation has taken some hits lately — Kyle Harrison and Brandon Woodruff are both out for a while, and Sal Frelick's been shelved too — but the lineup that's carried a 63-37 record didn't need much beyond Sproat holding the line. The Mets, meanwhile, are down Mark Vientos with a fractured hand and have half a pitching staff on the 60-day IL, so there wasn't much reason to expect this one to tilt New York's way. The Brewers opened as clear favorites on the market, which tracked with a team that had outscored its last 3 opponents by a combined 13 runs.

None of that mattered once the game started. Sproat couldn't find a rhythm, the Mets pieced together runs in the 2nd, 5th and 8th, and Thornton and the bullpen made it stand up. New York out-hit Milwaukee 13-4 and never let the Brewers' offense get anything going against a pitching staff that came in without much buzz.

It's a blip more than a crisis for Milwaukee — a 63-37 team with the injuries mostly confined to depth pieces isn't losing sleep over one shutout. But it's a real answer for a Mets team that's spent the year near the bottom of the NL East: Thornton looks like a keeper, and beating the best record in his league on the road is a nice line for his season.

New York Mets

(42-59)

07/20L@Brewers3-8

07/19W@Phillies6-1

07/18L@Phillies1-6

07/16W@Phillies4-1

07/12LvsRed Sox2-3

Milwaukee Brewers

(63-37)

07/20WvsMets8-3

07/19WvsMarlins3-1

07/18WvsMarlins8-6

07/17WvsMarlins2-1

07/12L@Pirates5-14

The injury pictures on both sides are worth keeping an eye on the rest of the week — Milwaukee's rehab assignments for Hamilton and Harrison are underway, and the Mets are still waiting on Clay Holmes to get back on a mound at all.